14 shot dead at 'Dark Knight Rises' screening

[ratchet]

Originally Posted by mwf6171

No it is not stupid, if you were a criminal and knew that there was a chance one of your victims might be carrying a weapon for self defense, they might be less likely to commit a crime. The purpose is not to shoot. I don't understand why people think that if you own/carry a gun you are running around like Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. The training many states have for CCW licenses is more than just filling out papers. In Missouri we have to attend an all day course and pass two shooting tests with two different guns. Had somebody in the theater in Aurora been carrying legally, perhaps the outcome would have been different. We will never know.

I think it is stupid - but everyone wants to think "If I was there I would have been the hero and shot him down". It's really not that easy.

[ratchet]

Originally Posted by CessnaDriver

Would an armed cop in the theater have helped?

You can't stop a shooter with angry words.
You have to stop the threat right away.

Cops are not magic beings.
Citizens can be trained to handle such situations if they so choose. Sadly at the Luby restaurant tragedy, a woman left her gun in her car to abide be the rules. She watched her parents killed in front of her that day.

Citizens with guns are not magic beings either... just because they have a gun doesn't mean the situation would end differently. They could be killed themselves - and then the shooter would just have another loaded weapon...

[Meteor Man]

I can't express the sadness I felt when I heard this on the radio this morning. But, that pales into nothingness next to the sheer horror that the people who were attacked by this psychotic killer felt, and the pain that will never completely go away for the families and loved ones left behind. I don't understand why someone who takes away the rights of so many people, is then covered in a blanket of rights.

If the man they have in custody is indeed proven to be the one who did this hideous act, then his rights, or the rights of anyone who would do something like this should be immediately forfeit, IMO.

[mwf6171]

Originally Posted by ratchet

I think it is stupid - but everyone wants to think "If I was there I would have been the hero and shot him down". It's really not that easy.

That is cool, I didn't mean to come across as if you were wrong. You are entitled to your opinion as much as I am mine.
I don't think of it as being a hero, I think of it as protecting my family and myself. Having not been in that position and am very thankful for that, I think my first reaction would have been to make sure my family was safe and would have gotten the Hell out of that theater.

[mwf6171]

Originally Posted by ratchet

Citizens with guns are not magic beings either... just because they have a gun doesn't mean the situation would end differently. They could be killed themselves - and then the shooter would just have another loaded weapon...

True, just because somebody has a gun means the situation will turn out differently, but I feel safer exercising my rights to carry. Just like many police officers I know, the whole goal is to never unholster your weapon.

[ratchet]

Originally Posted by mwf6171

That is cool, I didn't mean to come across as if you were wrong. You are entitled to your opinion as much as I am mine.
I don't think of it as being a hero, I think of it as protecting my family and myself. Having not been in that position and am very thankful for that, I think my first reaction would have been to make sure my family was safe and would have gotten the Hell out of that theater.

I am all for protecting your family - and if you're idea of protecting them includes arming yourself with weapons - then all the power to you.

I am just reading too many ignorant comments across the web where people are saying
"If I was there this guy wouldn't have gotten one shot off."
"I would have blown him away before he even had the time to grab his gun"

It's just simply not that easy...

[TNovak]

Originally Posted by supermetroid

Why is an Assault Rifle even allowed to be obtained legally anyways?

What do you mean by assault rifle? All fully automatic weapons (pull the trigger and it continues to fire until you let the trigger go) have been illegal in the US since either 1938 or 1939. What most people think of as "assault rifles" in the US are no different than semi automatic hunting or target shooting rifles with the exception of their appearance.

I would rather be shot (assuming I have to be shot) with a 7.39 mm semi automatic MAK 90 or AK 47 than with a 30.06 standard hunting rifle.

[mwf6171]

Originally Posted by ratchet

I am all for protecting your family - and if you're idea of protecting them includes arming yourself with weapons - then all the power to you.

I am just reading too many ignorant comments across the web where people are saying
"If I was there this guy wouldn't have gotten one shot off."
"I would have blown him away before he even had the time to grab his gun"

It's just simply not that easy...

Likewise, I have read too many ignorant comments of people saying all guns should be banned and that it should be illegal to own guns.

[Tetragrammaton]

People who want all firearms banned want the same thing as the people who want to be able to carry... to feel safe.

Sad part is, regardless of how you may feel, no law or firearms will make you absolutely safe.

[mwf6171]

Originally Posted by Tetragrammaton

People who want all firearms banned want the same thing as the people who want to be able to carry... to feel safe.

Sad part is, regardless of how you may feel, no law or firearms will make you absolutely safe.

Too true. Once firearms are banned the only people that will have them will be the criminals.